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Archaeological evaluation work was undertaken in the northern part of the Flasks during May 2005. Six trenches were excavated; Trenches A, B, D and F measured 40m x 2m, and Trenches C and E were 60m x 2m (Figure 1).
Full excavation of the trenches was preceded by a programme of test pitting and sieving; five test pits were excavated within each of the 40m trench limits, and seven in each of the 60m trench limits (Plate 1). The results of this work await further post-excavation analysis.
A total of ten features were allocated during investigations; of these, however, only one proved to have archaeological potential. Excavation of a number of irregular features, including F3, F7, F8 and F9, revealed that they contained peat, and they have been interpreted as undulations in the subsoil, forming traps for overlying deposits. The sampling of these features allowed a large number of other features to be identified as natural; these were mapped but not excavated further. A further three features (F1, F5 and F10) were found to represent peat-filled channels which again appear to be natural in origin (Plate 2). These features were found to cross Trenches A, C and F, and typically measured up to 2.2m wide, and upon excavated were found to measure between 0.2m and 0.7m in depth.
Two features were found to be modern in date. F4, situated in the northern part of Trench C, comprised a NE-SW aligned, cobble-filled channel, which has been interpreted as a field drain; a modern date was confirmed by the presence of white china within the backfill. F6, orientated E-W, was also found to be a cobble-filled, linear feature, which has been interpreted as a possible field drain.
The remaining feature, F2, was allocated to an irregular feature, close to the northwest edge of Trench B (Plate 3). The feature measured 0.3m across and up to 0.1m in depth, with sides sloping steeply onto an irregular base. Fragments of mammal tooth recovered from the backfill suggest some archaeological potential, although the form of the feature suggests that it may be natural, possibly a tree bole.
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| De-turfing | Peat filled channel | Possible archaeological feature |
The bund around the southwestern part of Nosterfield Quarry has now been completely removed. A watching brief was undertaken during the stripping of an area of c .2800m 2 to the southeast of this part of the site. A number of linear and circular features were identified, which add to the map of known prehistoric features in this area (Figure 1).
In the southern part of the stripped area, a NE-SW aligned ditch (F438) was revealed, found to represent the continuation of an Iron Age enclosure previously identified to the north as F82, F150 and F306 (Plate 1). A 4m sample of the ditch was excavated, revealing a V-shaped profile, 4m wide and up to 1.5m deep, within which a series of six clayey backfills was identified (Plate 2). Roman pottery was recovered from the uppermost backfills of this feature, paralleling the findings from elsewhere, which have been used to suggest that the ditch would initially have been excavated in the Iron Age and finally disused during the Roman period.
To the southeast of this ditch, a large pit (F439) was defined and excavated (Plate 3). The circular feature measured some 1.50m in diameter, and was found to have a steep-sided, V-shaped profile, reaching depths of up to 1.2m. Five distinct backfills were identified. F439 was situated to the southwest of, and aligned with, the southeastern length of the double pit alignment (Structure 4). The profile of the newly discovered pit, and the nature of its backfill sequence, suggests that it forms part of the same alignment; a total of three kubiena tins and a spitted column sample were retained in order to clarify the dating of this structure, along with 100 litres of soil for wet sieving (Plate 4).
A scatter of three pits (F440, F441, F442) was identified to the east of F439, following an east-west, curving alignment. The largest of these, F440, measured 1.1m in diameter, and up to 0.5m in depth, and contained two distinct backfills. F441, measuring 0.9m in diameter and 0.6m deep, was found to have been recut by a second pit, F443. The third feature in this group, F442, was the smallest, being 0.6m in diameter and reaching 0.35m in depth, again containing two distinct backfills (Plate 5). None of these features produced evidence indicative of function or date.
An isolated pit, F437, was identified cutting the upper backfill of ditch F438 (see Plate 1). The feature, measuring 0.8m x 0.9m, was found to measure up to 0.2m in depth, and was backfilled with a charcoal rich deposit of yellowish brown clay, which led to its interpretation as a fire pit. No datable finds were recovered; a 10 litre bulk sample was retained for wet sieving.
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| Iron Age enclosure ditch with later pit (section at right) | Iron Age enclosure ditch | Large pit, feature 439 |
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| Sampling of large pit, feature 439 | Pit, feature 442 |